Thomas Bak

Reader

  • Psychology
  • School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Contact details

Address

Street

Room S3, Psychology Building

City
7 George Square, Edinburgh
Post code
EH8 9JZ

Availability

  • I am happy to arrange personal meetings any time during the term. Please e-mail me on thomas.bak@ed.ac.uk to arrange a convenient day and time.

Biography

Background

Representative publications

  1. Bak TH, Long MR, Vega-Mendoza M, Sorace A. (2016) Novelty, Challenge, and Practice: The Impact of Intensive Language Learning on Attentional Functions. PLoS One. Published on-line 27 April 2016.
  2. Bak TH, Nissan J, Allerhand M, Deary IJ (2014) Does Bilingualism Influence Cognitive Ageing? Annals of Neurology 75 (6): 959-63.
  3. Alladi S, Bak TH, Duggirala V, Surampudi B, Shailaja M, Shukla AK, Chaudhuri JD, Kaul S (2013). Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. Neurology 81 (22):1938-1944.
  4. Bak TH, Chandran S (2012) What wires together, fires together: Verbs, Actions and Neurodegeneration in Motor Neuron Disease. Cortex, 48, 9367-944.

Blogs

CV

PDF icon 53540.pdf

Undergraduate teaching

  • Cognitive Neuroscience (Year 2)
  • Disorders of Language Functions (MSc)
  • Clinical Cognitive Neuroscience (MSc in Integrative Neuroscience)
  • Dementia (for medical students)

Office hours:

Tuesday 3pm - 5pm

Current PhD students supervised

 

Research summary

      • Impact of language learning and bi-/multilingualism on cognitive functions and wellbeing across the lifespan
      • Interaction between multilingualism, cognitive ageing/cognitive reserve and brain diseases (dementia, aphasia)
      • Language-specificity of memory, changes in language use and preference across the lifespan and in dementia
      • Language, movement & cognition: cognitive aspects of movement disorders and motor aspects of cognitive disorders
      • Cross-linguistic and cross-cultural adaptation of cognitive assessment

A good insight into my research is given in my recent keynote lectures:

ABRALIN (March 2021): "Cognitive Neuroscience & sociolinguistics of multilingualism: a tale of two rivers"

https://aovivo.abralin.org/lives/thomas-h-bank/

 

EDINBURGH NEUROSCIENCE CHRISTMAS LECTURE (December 2020): "The executive brain: why concepts matter"

youtu.be/BKxuEYT_nWY

 

EDINBURGH LANGUAGE EVENT (February 2020): "Sex, drug & bilingualism: language learning between evolution, science & ideology"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMgMwLBcbqM

 

POLYGLOT CONFERENCE, REYKJAVIK (November 2017): "Cognitive effects of language learning: implications for smaller & indigenous languages"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNSGwH-qC3g

 

Finally, this "Brainwaves" interview with Penny Latin from BBC Scotland summarises well the main strands of my research:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09pz108

 

 

Current research interests

The interaction between bilingualism and cognitive functions across the lifespan and in diseases such as stroke and dementia. Cognitive effects of language learning. Relationship between language, cognition and motor function. Embodied cognition. Cognitive & linguistic symptoms in neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. MND, PSP, CBD, FTD, progressive aphasias). Crosscultural and crosslinguistic aspects of cognitive evaluation. Design and adaptation of cognitive and motor assessment to different languages and cultures.

Project activity

Due to current restrictions, I am conducting most of my research on-line. You could help up us by filling in one or more of our on-line studies listed below:

STUDY 1 - LANGUAGE LEARNING

For all those who have ever learned (or attempted to learn) a language different from their first one (e.g. at university, while travelling, through social contacts etc). We have also a second version, for those who have taught a language: if you have done both, you can fill in both questionnaires, one with your student, the other with your teacher "hat" on:

https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cZLujTCJiNn6FRX

 

STUDY 2 - LANGUAGES ACROSS THE LIFESPAN

We are interested how languages develop acros the lifespan in people who speak more than one language. We have different versions of this survey: SELF-REPORT for those over 50y old & speaking more than one language & PROXY-REPORT, in which you can tell us about people you know (family, friends, people you cared for), who speak more than one language and are over 50y old; available in English, Chinese (traditional & simplified characters) & soon in Tamil.

https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6ySpqYdw2yyH1s1

 

STUDY 3 - LANGUAGE, MEMORY & IMAGINATION

In this study we would like to see how language shapes the way we remember things in the past and imagine things in future. This can be done either in one language (monolingual version) or in a bilingual version, if you speak two of the languages listed below. We have a European & an Asian set:

(a) EUROPEAN LANGUAGES: English, German, Spanish, Polish & French, or any combination of two of them:

https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6xOi22JqdkpigV7

(b) ASIAN LANGUAGES: Chinese, Tamil, Chinese/English, Tamil/English

https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Ghqbi2MAMy9ax8

 

STUDY 4 - LEARNING CHINESE

This is a study for all who have learned Chinese, are learning it currently or would like to learn it some time in future (you do not have to speak a word of Chinese to fill it in, but we are interested what you think about the Chinese language). There is also a separate version for Chinese teachers:

https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ePQpPZz3gKk6orX

 

STUDY 5 - COGNITIVE & MOTOR SCREENING IN DEMENTIA & MOTOR DISORDERS CLINICS

You can help us with this very brief (5 mins) study if you are a clinician (doctor, psychologist, SLT, OT etc) working with patients with dementia and/or mootor disorders. We ask which kind of patients you see and which bedside screening tests (if any) you use:

https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8rbPIskKRmuANVz

Thanks a lot for your help

Dr Thomas H Bak

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